


Cauterize Your Heart

by LacePendragon



Category: Bakugan Battle Brawlers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety Attacks, Changes in Author's Notes, Coming Out, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Lore - Freeform, M/M, Mechtanium Surge Rewrite, Mental Health Issues, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Queer Themes, Recovery, Rewriting World Building to Make it More Consistent, Season/Series 04, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, Trauma, Trauma as the Big Bad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 00:40:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30097629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LacePendragon/pseuds/LacePendragon
Summary: It’s been over a year since the Bakugan Battle Brawlers and the Castle Knights brought peace to Gundalia and Neathia. The war is over, everyone has gone home, and the newly built up mega Bakugan Interspace has begun its biggest Grand Prix yet.So, why can’t Dan focus on battling instead of on his nightmares?He doesn’t remember exactly when they started, but he knows they’re getting worse. Waking up sweaty, shaky, and panicked isn’t easy to hide, especially as they move from once to week to almost every night.Genocidal war lords, evil kings, and corrupted Bakugan are one thing to fight, but his own head? That’s not something he can just punch his way through. He can’t fight back and the fear is threatening to drown him. He can’t do this alone anymore. He needs his friends, his parents, and he needs Shun, even if he’s scared of how fast his heart beats around him these days.How’s a hero supposed to ask for help? He’s supposed to be invincible. He’s supposed to always get back up.So, what happens when he can’t?
Relationships: Anubias/Ben, Gus Grav/Spectra Phantom | Keith Fermin, Julie Makimoto/Jake Vallory, Kazami Shun/Kuusou Danma | Daniel "Dan" Kuso, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Ren Krawler/Marukura "Marucho" Chouji
Comments: 12
Kudos: 14





	Cauterize Your Heart

**Author's Note:**

> _An alternate timeline for the first half of Mechtanium Surge, wherein the villain isn’t a man behind a mask or a monster in the shadows, but instead the trauma that Dan never processed._
> 
> Hello all! Welcome to my foray into a fic concept I have wanted to do for... several years, at this point. This is a canon divergent rewrite of arc one of season four of Bakugan - the first half of Mechtanium Surge. MS1 and 2 have always been some of my favourite parts of the show (which is apparently unpopular, but I adore the character development and the thematic callbacks to Dan's struggles and the like).
> 
> _Cauterize Your Heart_ is a fic where Mag Mel doesn't exist. Instead, the "Big Bad" of the season is all of Dan's unhandled and unprocessed trauma. There will still be nightmares. There will still be misunderstandings. And there will still be mechtogan. Also, Anubias and Sellon still exist. How? By making Anubias an actual Gundalian and Sellon an actual Neathian.
> 
> Oh also, they are teenagers, Dan is seventeen, and they've all been through war. They swear. Because why _wouldn't_ they? Hopefully it's not too jarring. And you know that thing? Where Shun can do stuff that is _definitely_ not normal? Yeah, I'm addressing that. It'll be great, trust me.
> 
> I'm really excited for this fic. I adore Dan/Shun (as my past fics will tell you) and I love building them up over their history as friends. I have so many plans, and so I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do. Cheers!

_“Good afternoon Bakugan battlers! The battle between tag-team sibling challengers Monika and Samuel of Team Dynamite and Dan Kuso, the king of Interspace himself and leader of the Battle Brawlers, will commence shortly! We’re just waiting on Dan Kuso to arrive. Stay tuned!”_

Marucho frowned and checked the watch on his Bakumeter for the third time in as many minutes.

“C’mon guys, where are you?” he asked himself, staring down at the battle arena from the stands.

* * *

“We’re gonna be late!” Dan leaped over someone bent down tying their shoelaces and sprinted after Shun. His backpack banged against his back and his boots slid in the half-melted slush of mid-March. By his Bakumeter, he was cutting it close with his latest match, the one that was meant to be the first official tag-team match of the tag-team challenge in the Grand Prix. Man, he _so_ should have done his homework earlier. If Ms. Dubay hadn’t made him stay until he finished, they’d be doing fine.

“Dan, c’mon,” called Shun from a few steps ahead. “If you’re late _again_ then the system’s going to mark the battle as a loss.” His long hair billowed behind him, his stupid hat not doing anything to tame the dang _mane_ Shun was growing.

Dan groaned. Shit, he’d forgotten that part.

Drago, from his safe spot in the shoulder pocket of Dan’s coat, said, “Do you really want to lose our undefeated record because of _homework_?”

“It’s not my fault she makes us do the homework,” protested Dan. He skidded in the slush, grabbed a streetlight pole, and swung around the corner half a second behind Shun. They were coming up fast on the transport building for Interspace. If he could keep this pace, he’d make it.

“It’s senior year.” Shun moved from the sidewalk to the street, bolting behind a car and leaping over a puddle on the other side. Dan followed, dodging a truck that honked as he ran by. “Of _course_ she’s going to make us do the homework.”

Dan huffed. The cold air bit at his cheeks and ears. He should have worn his hat. But he didn’t want to have to find his goggles on top of everything else. So they clung to his head and got colder by the minute along with his ears.

Stupid homework.

“Why are you late, anyway?” asked Dan. He pulled level with Shun, which meant Shun was slowing down for him, and puffed out his cheeks and stuck out his tongue. “You could have gone ahead.”

“And leave you behind?” Shun scoffed. “Not a chance.” Then, “Duck.” Dan ducked and the spinning sign of a sign spinner swept over him. He came back up. “Besides, Julie called a cheer meeting.”

Dan grinned. Almost there. “Where’s your uniform?” he teased.

Shun rolled his eyes and pulled ahead. Oops. Wait, come back! He picked up speed and tried to catch Shun. Stupid longer legs. Stupid ninja skills. Stupid totally-not-superpowers. Seriously, what the heck was up with those?

“Meeting, not practice. You think I’d be caught _dead_ in uniform in Interspace?” Shun snorted. “Yeah, I’d rather face down Barodius all over again.”

Dan snickered. One foot caught on the lip of the sidewalk. He yelped, arms pinwheeling as he fell. Shun pivoted and caught him before he ate pavement.

“Thanks, man,” said Dan as Shun pulled him upright. Shun held fast to his wrist. “What are you—?” He yelped as Shun yanked him along, pushing to a speed just this side of _ow_ for Dan. Well, they were going faster now.

And there was the Interspace portal building. Dan pulled level with Shun with a last burst of energy and the two bounded up the stairs and burst into the building. Dan headed for the lockers, throwing them open as Shun punched in their ID codes for the transporter. Dan reached out and caught Shun’s backpack as Shun threw it, then threw both and his boots into the locker. He pulled out his shoes and stuffed them on, avoiding the wet spot on the floor from melting slush. Shun threw his boots over Dan’s shoulder and they landed, neatly, beside Dan’s.

Dan tossed him his shoes, grabbed the jacket and overshirt they wore in Interspace as part of their “signature looks” (Julie claimed it helped with branding. Dan liked not having to pick clothes all the time to look presentable) and threw one to Shun.

Shun caught it, both yanked on their stuff as they darted up the last few stairs. Dan winked at Shun and Shun rolled his eyes as they stepped into the portals.

Then they were gone, reappearing in the corresponding portal in Interspace.

“Fun’s not over yet,” said Shun, already tearing off again. Dan sprinted after him. By his Bakumeter, he was late. Crap. If he didn’t hurry, he really _was_ going to get a loss just from absence. Stupid system. Stupid homework. Stupid Ms. Dubay.

“Watch where you’re going,” called Drago, resting on Dan’s shoulder. Dan yelped and jumped, trying to clear the bench in front of him. He fell short, hit the top, and went flailing onto the ground.

The world tilted sideways and Dan groaned, holding his head. “Ow,” he muttered.

Shun appeared in his point of view. “You’re slow,” he said. He hauled Dan to his feet and scooped him into his arms. Dan yelped again. “This is faster.”

“Dude!” protested Dan, but he wrapped his arms around Shun’s shoulders, anyway. “Seriously?”

“Hold on tight,” said Shun, and he was running again. Faster than Dan could ever hope. Leaping over anything in the way with height and grace that Dan was pretty sure wasn’t natural.

They got to the entrance with moments to spare.

“One day, you’re telling me how you do that,” muttered Dan as Shun set him down.

Shun shrugged. “Ley lines,” he said. He reached up and straightened Dan’s goggles, then flashed him a crooked smile. “Knock ‘em dead.”

Dan grinned and flicked his thumb across his nose. “We will!” He and Shun turned in different directions – Dan for the arena, Shun for the stands, and ran their separate ways.

Dan burst into the arena with seconds to spare before he would have been disqualified.

“I’m here!” he called, waving his arms to the roaring crowd.

_“And there he is everyone. Dan Kuso! The leader of the Bakugan Battle Brawlers and the king of Bakugan Interspace. Let’s give a big cheer for our favourite brawler. He may not be punctual, but he’s always keeping us on our toes,”_ said the announcer.

Dan laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. Yeah, okay, he deserved that one.

“Sorry about that,” said Dan, turning toward his opponents. Uh… he forgot their names. There were so many battles these days that it was hard. A quick sneaky glance at the big screen overhead revealed them to be Monika and Samuel. Oh, right, they were a sibling tag-team. Twins, maybe? They looked the same age. “Got held up at school. Senior year is pretty intense.” He flashed a grin at the two challengers, who were staring at him like he’d grown a second head. “What? Is something on my face?”

Monika, he presumed she was Monika, pointed at his chest. “Your shirt,” she said, cheeks flushed. “Um.”

Dan looked down and promptly bit back a curse. Instead of the usual red faux-leather jacket that he wore in Interspace, he was wearing an open white shirt _thing_ with green trimming.

Shun’s shirt.

_Crap._

Dan looked up to the audience and found Shun leaning against the railing in his usual spot. The red of Dan’s jacket stood out starkly on his pale clothing and skin. He was rolling what was _probably_ one of Dan’s secret candies between two fingers. His hair hung past his shoulders and flowed over the jacket, softening it in a way Dan had never thought about.

Dan narrowed his eyes.

“He totally noticed, didn’t he?” asked Dan.

Drago chuckled. “So did I. I was surprised when you didn’t.”

“I was a _little distracted_ ,” Dan hissed. He looked back to Monika and Samuel. “So, uh? Time to brawl?” He rubbed the back of his neck. He couldn’t swap jackets right now and there was no good way to explain _why_ they were swapped, so he might as well just roll with it.

“Yeah, sounds good to me!” said Samuel.

_“All right battle fans. Let’s brawl! Field, open!”_

“Let’s do this,” said Dan, grabbing Drago out of the air. Monika threw down a gate card and Dan drew back his arm. “Bakugan, brawl; let’s go, Pyrus Titanium Dragonoid!”

The battle began. Monika and Samuel were a Subterra and Haos battler, respectively, and they both had some great cards. Dan kept focused, calling out attacks and shields as he got the opportunity. His heart pounded in his chest and an easy grin stayed on his face the whole time.

This was easy. Battling, brawling, taking on the average fighters to a roaring crowd. This was his life. This was where he was meant to be.

Not on a battlefield. Not in a war. But here, in the arena, where the only stakes were fun.

A tag-team ability blasted Drago and smoked out the arena. Dan lifted one hand and grimaced, squinting against the grey. His chest went tight as he breathed in the smoke. Coughing, he shielded his mouth with the back of his hand. The smoke was thick and black and all-encompassing, wiping out everything but the pounding of his heart in his ears. Somewhere, there was a crowd; somewhere, there was an announcer. Somewhere, his teammates watched him. He had to keep his head. This was just a regular battle. Nothing to worry about.

But he was tired. And the smoke kept forming up into shadows. Creatures. Bakugan that he’d fought and conquered during a war he couldn’t stop dreaming about. Dan stumbled back a few steps, swallowing hard. _Not now._ No, not now. This was _so_ not the time for this to happen again.

Faintly, Dan heard his teammates, his friends, calling for him, shouting his name. They were—

–Counting on him. His head spun. He was in the arena. He was _safe_. But he couldn’t stop the tight feeling in his chest or the too-quick, shallow breaths that kept sucking in smoke. Where was the enemy? Where were the Bakugan? He had to stop them. He had to, before they—

“Dan!” Drago’s voice. Dan’s hands shook, his shoulders trembled. He sucked in a sharp breath. This wasn’t a war. This wasn’t a battlefield. No one was trying to hurt him. No one was trying to hurt Drago, or the people in the stands, or his friends. “Dan!” came Drago’s voice again.

The smoke swept away, clearing his vision. Dan looked around, trying to keep himself from shaking too obviously. He was fine. Everything was fine. He needed to stay calm. People were watching. People were counting on him.

He was _fine._

“All right!” called Dan, ignoring the tremor in his voice. “If you think that’s enough to take down me and Drago, you’ve got another thing coming.” He pointed at them, flashing them a grin that he hoped looked real. “Come on Drago, let’s go.” He lifted his arm, ability card flashing above his Bakumeter. “Ability activate, Dragon Strain!”

The tag-team called out more abilities at the same time. Drago flew around the flashing attacks, entire body glowing. Dan watched, his fists clenched at hip height. His ears rang and his chest was so tight he could barely breathe. No matter how much he told himself that Drago was fine, he kept seeing the battlefield on Neathia. Kept seeing the two battlers replaced with Gundalian soldiers.

Things that had been so clear just minutes ago were blurry. The edges of everything faded and he put a hand on his head. He needed to act normal, but he was _tired_ , the lack of sleep catching up to him. Tired, disoriented, and terrified. And angry, but that was just at himself. Why was he so scared? What had done this?

He’d never felt _this_ bad in a fight before. Never this intense. Never this scared.

What was _wrong_ with him?

Drago shot fireballs at the two Bakugan. He missed one and hit the other, then fired off a second attack that hit the second. Dan took a step back. Drago _missed_? Something was wrong. Something was _really_ wrong. Was it him? Was he distracting Drago too much? Or maybe it was something else. Maybe his nightmares weren’t just nightmares.

The arena flashed as the battle ended. Dan caught Drago and hopped down to the ground, waving at the cheering crowd with his other hand.

“You okay, pal?” asked Dan, trying to calm the erratic beating of his heart. “Saw that you missed.”

“I’m all right. I was having a hard time using the ability. That’s never happened to me before,” said Drago. Dan swallowed. _Perfect._ “Are you all right, Dan? You seemed awfully distracted there.”

“Yeah, just tired,” said Dan. He let out an awkward laugh and rubbed the back of his neck as he stepped into the tunnel that led back to the locker rooms. “You know, not sleeping well and all that.” He left it at that. He hadn’t told Drago about the extent of his nightmares. Most nights he had them, he was quiet when he woke up. Only sometimes did he call out and wake Drago. Usually, he just curled up on his side for a while and counted backward from a hundred until his chest stopped hurting and his mind stopped spinning in a thousand directions.

They were just nightmares. Besides, Drago needed sleep, too.

The locker room door slid up and Dan stepped in. He dropped heavily onto the bench and put his head in his hands, elbows balanced on his knees. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly, trying to calm himself.

This was the third battle in as many weeks he’d panicked during, but it had never been that bad, before. Sure, he’d frozen up for a second, or forgotten that a battle was for fun rather than for the fate of an entire planet full of people, but he’d never completely lost it like that. If Drago hadn’t been able to call him back into the fight….

Dan shivered. Man this was such _bullshit!_ He wanted to go back to normal. He wanted to battle for fun and sleep for more than two hours some nights, and not be scared of having nightmares the other nights. He was _tired_.

Why was this happening to him? Was it a new evil force pushing this all to the front?

“Dan,” said Drago, on his shoulder. “Are you all right? Please, talk to me.”

Dan lifted his head and flashed Drago a little smile. “I’m fine, pal, just tired.”

“You’re having nightmares,” said Drago, quietly. “We’re partners. I want you to know you can trust me.”

Dan sighed and sat up properly, stretching his arms above his head. “Yeah, well, it’s not that bad. C’mon, you know I’d tell you if it was that bad.”

Drago sighed, sounding more frustrated than Dan did. “I suppose…”

The locker room door opened and Shun and Marucho came in. Dan grinned and got to his feet, trying to push the fear and frustration off so that he could go back to enjoying himself. He’d been having an awesome day until all this. Time to get back to it.

“Hey guys,” said Dan, waving to his friends. “What’d you think of my battle?” Drago floated up to his shoulder, humming.

“You were awesome, dude,” said Tristar, popping up next to Marucho. “But, I gotta say, still waiting for our battle. C’mon, Drago, let’s dance.” Marucho laughed, hand on the back of his neck. Dan swallowed and flashed a crooked smile at Tristar.

“Hey, if Drago’s game, so am I,” said Dan, shrugging. Shun narrowed his eyes at Dan and Dan raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“You sure you aren’t pushing yourself too far? You and Drago both had a moment out there where it looked like you zoned out.” Shun folded his arms. “What was that about?”

“Well, _maybe_ ,” said Dan, stepping forward and tugging at his jacket, partially to convince Shun to take it off and give it back. He didn’t. Dan pouted, “there’s a _reason_ I keep snacks in that jacket, man. I get low blood sugars sometimes. Makes me all dizzy. But _you_ stole my jacket, so I didn’t have anything to help with it.”

Shun narrowed his eyes further, pressing his lips together into a thin line. “Uh-huh.” He didn’t sound convinced. Dan needed to change the subject.

“Hey! We should go check out the rankings,” said Dan. “You guys said those two teams were pushing really hard for the front, right?” He couldn’t remember the team names. “We should see how that’s doing. C’mon!” He hurried from the locker room, flashing a smile at his friends as he beckoned for them to follow. Marucho laughed and followed him. Shun shook his head, but followed anyway. Taylean kept looking from Dan, to Shun, and back again.

Dan tried not to think about how hard it was going to be to keep hiding everything from those two. _Especially_ Shun.

Out in the main area, it was easier to shrug things off. People milled about, talking about battles, school, and Bakugan. A few waved when they saw Dan, and Dan smiled and waved back at them, flashing winks and finger guns to anyone who seemed like they needed a pick-me-up. A lot of them giggled or did it back.

Yeah, it was pretty good to be king.

Dan folded his arms behind his head and did a little spin as they reached the main leaderboard. There was him, at number one with Drago by a decent margin. Shun was down in number four, but he was undefeated, just like Dan. The two in the middle were the ones Dan was curious about.

Anubias, of Team Anubias, and Sellon, of Team Sellon. Kind of narcissistic, if you asked him, to name your team after yourself.

“Wow, those two really are closing in on you fast,” said Marucho. “You need to be careful, Dan. If you don’t watch, they might catch up to you.”

Dan scoffed. “Whatever, man. They can try, but they’re not gonna catch me.” He grinned at Shun. “Only person in here who can beat me is _you_ , but being on the same team means we never have to compete.” Dan cocked his head. “But, man, we’d be _tied_ if you weren’t always training, y’know? Be the kings of Interspace, together.”

Shun rolled his eyes, the tips of his ears and the upper curve of his cheeks dusted pink. “Training is important for every battler, Dan. And we have to be strong so that our Bakugan can rely on us.”

Dan huffed. “Yeah, you’d know, I guess.” He shrugged. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter what the ranks look like now. With the tag-team marathon kicking off, today, anything can happen. But you know who’s gonna be on top at the end?” He held out a fist to Shun, who cracked a smile and tapped his own with Dan’s.

“Us?” asked Shun, tone dry.

“Duh!” said Dan, rolling his eyes. “Man, the two powerhouses of Interspace taking on the tag team world.” He grinned and bounced on his toes. “Between your awesome skill and Drago’s power, you and I are gonna make everyone regret challenging us.”

“Don’t forget about me,” said Marucho.

“And me!” said Tristar. “C’mon, you guys can’t hog all the opponents. Gotta let us in to take on some challengers too.”

Marucho nodded. “Right! Tristar and I have been doing plenty of training on our own, and with our new tactics, both support and offense, we’ll be able to handle whatever team-up you throw our way.” He beamed at Dan and Dan laughed.

“Yeah, okay,” said Dan, tone teasing. “I’ll see if I can pencil you in. You know, my schedule is _so_ full and I am _so_ important.” He winked at Marucho and Marucho snickered.

An unfamiliar, gruff voice shouted over Dan’s shoulder. “Wow, looks like Dan Kuso is just as arrogant as I thought.” Dan turned to see a big guy with angry eyebrows glaring at him. “You too important for your own teammates now, Kuso?”

Dan frowned. “Dude, it was just a joke. You know, that thing friends do with each other?” Dan rolled his eyes. “I’m not _that_ caught up in my own hype. C’mon.”

The guy rolled his eyes. “Whatever. You can lie all you want, Kuso, but no one normal calls themselves the king of Interspace unironically.” He folded his arms and glared down his nose at Dan. “You’re just a punk hiding behind all your titles.”

Dan bared his teeth. “Hey!” He shoved forward a few steps, glaring up at the guy. “I’ve earned those titles. Me and the Brawlers have saved way more people than I bet you can even think of.” He scowled. “And I didn’t start the ‘king’ thing, everyone else did. I just went with the flow and started saying what they were saying.” Dan ground his teeth together. “I’m not doing anything wrong.”

The guy scowled and Dan growled. The two glared at each other.

“Now, now, Ben,” came a slippery voice from behind the big guy. “Let’s not work Kuso up _before_ we fight him.” The guy stepped aside and Dan came face to face with a guy that he’d only ever seen on battle screens.

“Anubias,” said Dan, voice tight. “What do _you_ want?” This couldn’t be good. None of this could be good. Why were they here? What did they want? Team Anubias and Sellon had left him alone so far. He did _not_ want to deal with either team, today. Especially not after his panic in the arena and his exhaustion from everything over the last week.

“What?” asked Anubias, flashing a crooked, sharp-fanged grin at Dan, “I can’t want to congratulate my biggest rival on his latest win?”

Dan folded his arms against his chest. “What makes you think _you_ count as a rival?” He jutted out his chin. On either side of Ben, two more members of Team Anubias appeared. A skinny guy and a short guy. “You’re just a couple of hungry newbies trying to ride your luck all the way to the top.” The anger crackled hard and fast under his skin, driving a headache behind his eyes. Why did people have to bother him _today_? Why couldn’t everyone just leave him alone?

Anubias’ grin turned sly. “Are you willing to test that theory, Kuso?” His eyes seemed to bore deep into Dan, picking out every weakness Dan was trying to hide. Dan fought stepping back. “Why not put your Bakugan where your mouth is?”

Dan just barely stopped himself from growling. He strode forward, close to Anubias’ face, hands clenched into fists – one near his chin, one near his ribs. Block and attack. Just like Shun had taught him.

“You think I’m all talk?” he said, teeth bared and eyes narrowed. “Then _bring it_.”

Anubias chuckled. “I’ll look forward to it, then.” He flicked his chin and tossed his hair in one motion, turning away from Dan and striding through the gap between his teammates. “C’mon, boys. We have work to do. Rome wasn’t built in a day.” He looked over his shoulder and gave Dan a dark smile. “And kings don’t fall in one, either.”

Dan glowered as the four left, hands shaking from how tightly clenched he had them.

“Dan?” Marucho put a hand on his arm. Dan startled. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” mumbled Dan, combing his fingers through his hair. “Let’s just… get out of here, okay? I got a headache.” He turned and headed back to the Brawler lockers. Shun and Marucho followed and, for the first time in a long time, Dan didn’t try to fill the silence.

* * *

The elevated park leading home had a beautiful view of the bay. The sun was almost set, now. Oranges and purples and yellows that bled together in some pastel love letter to day and night. Or cycles. Or something. He wasn’t good at metaphors, but he tried. Reading all those books for English class helped. And so did listening to Shun when he was feeling poetic or started writing lyrics for the non-existent band that Dan kept wanting to start with him.

“Y’know,” said Marucho, “I know that Team Anubias isn’t exactly your favourite group of people, Dan, but I really like that Interspace has so many great brawlers.” He beamed at Dan, who was leaned against the railing overlooking the bay. “Team Anubias and Team Sellon are proof that Interspace needed to grow in order to become better. Sure, there’s lots of chaos in Interspace now, but there’s so many new battlers. Great ones, mediocre ones, and so many fans that are always happy to see us brawl.” He leaned back against the railing, arms folded behind his head. “Going open source was something I was worried about, but I think it’s going great.”

Dan smiled, caught up in Marucho’s euphoria over his creation getting so big and beautiful. Every day, he was grateful Interspace existed, though some days it had been because of how easily it let him stay in touch with his friends before they’d moved to Bayview.

“It’s pretty sweet, dude. You did amazing with switching it to open source. The teams that handle its maintenance are awesome, and so many of the battlers are cool.” Dan frowned. “Just wish some of them weren’t so uptight and arrogant, like Anubias.”

Shun spoke. “It stood to reason that we’d end up with battlers we dislike in Interspace eventually. Despite our diplomatic ventures on other planets, we’ve never gotten along with everyone.” Shun had his hands in his pockets. He leaned against a bench not far behind Dan. Dan turned and rolled his eyes at him.

“Yeah, whatever man. I just wish he wasn’t so on my case. Seriously, what did I ever do to him to get him so gung-ho about taking me on?” Dan shrugged. “He’s just some guy. I didn’t, y’know, accidentally burn down his house saving the world or something.”

Shun shrugged, an easy rolling motion that always looked way more graceful than Dan’s own. “He’s competitive, hungry to be the best, and dedicated to his craft.” Shun raised an eyebrow at him. “Not unlike _you_ , I’d like to point out.”

Dan pouted and folded his arms. “We’re not _that_ similar. I’m way better, for starters. And my team is _way_ more awesome.”

“Yeah, we are!” cheered Tristar. “We’re gonna totally pummel those guys in the tournament and prove that the Battle Brawlers are on top for a reason!” Tristar bounced on Marucho’s shoulder and yelped as he rolled off. Marucho jerked forward and caught him.

“You have to be _careful_ , Tristar. You can’t float on Earth,” said Marucho, with a sigh. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Tristar sighed. “Sorry.”

“Shun makes a good point, Dan,” said Taylean. “The desire to be number one is reason enough for most to challenge you directly. You must take care, both for your sake and for Drago’s.” Shun nodded. “Your reputation is a boon. You must be careful to ensure it doesn’t also become a curse.”

Tristar scoffed. “How can something be both a boon _and_ a curse? That’s crazy. Something can’t be good and bad at the same time.”

“Maybe if you stopped and thought about it,” muttered Drago, too low for Tristar to hear.

Dan thought of Drago’s powers. Of his nightmares. Of the war.

“No, I understand,” said Dan, quietly. “There’s plenty of things like that.” Shun gave him a curious look and Dan cleared his throat. “Anyway, I gotta get going. I’m tired, man. Need to catch up on some Z’s.”

“All right. I should get home too,” said Marucho. “Night guys!”

“Night,” Shun and Dan both called as Marucho raced off in the direction of his house. Dan and Shun turned toward their neighbourhood and walked, side by side, much less hurried than they had been, hours prior.

“So,” said Shun, when the silence had settled thick and left Dan wondering when one of them would speak. “Low blood sugar, huh?” The skepticism in his voice left Dan wincing and rubbing the back of his neck.

“Yeah, I mean. I’m hungry, man, and you know how I get without snacks,” said Dan. At Shun’s continued hard stare, he sighed and relented a little. “I mean, I’m not sleeping all that great, dude, so that’s not helping.”

Shun frowned as they rounded a corner, coming closer to the neighbourhood. Drago was a heavy weight on Dan’s shoulder, his silence speaking more than any words probably could.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” asked Shun, his voice soft and concerned. He furrowed his brow at Dan, gaze flicking up and down Dan’s body like he was just seeing him for the first time in a long time. “Is something wrong?”

Dan swallowed and lied through his teeth. “Nah, man, just can’t sleep. It happens. No big deal.” Dan shrugged and didn’t quite look at Shun while he spoke. At least he could watch the road while they walked. That was a good excuse not to look at Shun. “I’ll be fine.”

Shun sighed. “Drago?”

“He’s fine,” said Drago, sounding much more confident than Dan felt. “Nothing some rest and a few days off won’t fix.”

Shun nodded. “All right.” They were at Dan’s house now, both of them stopping at the end of his walkway. Shun put a hand on Dan’s shoulder. “Get some rest, maybe take a few days off, then. We can play video games, take some naps, do some English work.” Shun gave him a little smile, concern oozing from every part of his expression. “Call me if you need me, all right? I’m here for you.”

Dan flashed Shun a smile that he hoped looked okay. “Yeah, I get you dude. But no worries. I’m just gonna get some rest, okay?”

“Okay,” said Shun, nodding, brow still furrowed. “Goodnight, Dan.”

“Night, Shun,” said Dan. Shun turned and headed down the street to his own house. Dan watched him go for a second before heading into his house. He kicked off his boots, tossed his coat, and slumped up the stairs, dropping into his bed with a quiet groan.

He was asleep within minutes.

The nightmares started soon after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please consider leaving a comment, as they really make my day!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I would love to hear your thoughts either here in the comments or over on Tumblr - my username is the same!


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